Contrived or not https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Austin-Corbett-Jersey , the Cleveland Browns using former coach Hue Jackson as fuel was exactly what they needed to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12.Jackson coaching in Cincinnati probably doesn’t really bother the Browns locker room that much. But, for whatever their reasons, the Browns player leadership used him to energize their team to help embarrass their hosts in the first installment of 2018’s Battle of Ohio.The second edition should be a spectacle when the Bengals travel to FirstEnergy Stadium with Jackson on their sideline. And the fans won’t, and we certainly won’t forget about it in the build-up to the showdown.And Jackson’s dreaming if he’s expecting a warmer reception in Cleveland. Like the players, Browns fans were not happy with their team’s futility for Jackson’s two-plus seasons, or the way he continually skirted responsibility and finger-pointed his way out of town and through the media rounds after his dismissal.“We weren’t losing that game,” one Browns staffer told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “No way in hell were we losing that game.”There are probably more concrete reasons for Baker Mayfield “cold-shouldering” Jackson before and after that game. He did call his former coach “fake” on Monday after taking backlash from ESPN’s “First Take” program commentator Damien Woody for his comments about Jackson jumping aboard with a divisional rival after his termination.Mayfield responded to a FirstTake Instagram post video clip from the show. In the clip, Woody criticized Mayfield’s comments about Jackson considering he transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma, and the fiery rookie quarterback replied on the website with the following:“Not even comparable... I didn’t lose 30(-plus) games be fake and then do that... I wasn’t gonna have a scholarship. Good try though buddy.”Whatever. The two situations are miles away from being similar situations. Mayfield might be a little off-base for going so hard at Jackson, but it’s not because he’s a hypocrite because of his own situation.And Damarious Randall’s hilarious “game ball” offering seemed a little too fated rather than any conscious or pre-planned effort to stick it to Jackson.But the Browns’ response to Jackson’s dismissal, both positively in the win column and negatively in the petty—albeit hilarious—response to trouncing his new team on their home field, has been a clear signal that his team simply didn’t respect him. Contrary to popular belief that Jackson is an elite and appealing coaching candidate—ideas perpetuated by his nice-guy attitude, his media buddies (mouthpieces) like Mike Silver, and his past accomplishments—it’s becoming more and more clear how over his head he was when asked to lead an entire football team. And despite the popular sentiment around his name, he just never earned his locker room’s trust.Hiring Todd Haley was a last-ditch effort to save himself. Instead of helping solve his team’s issues, though, he continued deflecting blame and reportedly clashing with his coordinator. It was his feeble attempt to preserve his “good” name, and it backfired, big time.And to be perfectly honest, it’s not surprising he went crawling back to Marvin Lewis’s waiting arms. After he embarrassed himself on every media outlet in the country, it was hard to imagine any other franchise employing him or affording him any kind of role in the near-term.The Browns have plenty of reasons to act the way they have towards their former coach. No one outside their locker room, especially media folks with no access like Damien Woody, gets to criticize them for it, either.It doesn’t matter why they don’t respect him Nick Chubb Jersey , or why they wanted to beat him so badly. They used his contrived betrayal to come together to stick it to their former coach.And it worked.The Browns hadn’t won a road game since 2014. They ran the Bengals, with Jackson on their sidelines, off their own field in one of the most decisive road wins by a Browns team that I’ve ever seen.If that’s what it takes, then contrive some more controversies, please.Apologize to no one. PHOENIX (AP) — Baker Mayfield wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity.Fully aware the Milwaukee Brewers wanted to protect him, Mayfield knew he wouldn’t get into a spring training game during his two-day stay with the NL Central champions. But they let the Cleveland Browns quarterback get real close — a surprise stint as the first base coach for three innings Saturday.As the split-squad Brewers came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, that’s when third base coach Eddie Sedar suddenly handed Mayfield a batting helmet and stop watch and told him to take over.Did his baseball pals give him any advice?“Pay attention,” Mayfield related. “Watch out for guys ripping one down the line.”Mayfield is friends with Christian Yelich and joined the NL MVP and the Brewers on Friday. The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner took batting practice and showed off his arm strength by throwing passes to some of the team’s staff.“I thought he did great,” Yelich said of Mayfield’s BP session. “It was a lot of fun. He’s got a pretty good swing.”As the first base coach, Mayfield deftly handled a foul ball by Milwaukee’s Travis Shaw that ricocheted off the Brewers dugout in the fourth. But Mayfield bobbled a foul carom off the bat of Yelich in the sixth.Mayfield quickly learned not to get too comfortable in the coach’s box.“I don’t know why they have it painted right there,” Mayfield said. “It’s not regulation size and it’s too close. I’m looking over at Eddie at third base and he’s in the outfield.”Mike Moustakas, though, might want Mayfield to hang around some more. The Brewers star hit a ball into the gap in right-center field in the fourth and Mayfield waved him on, pumping his arm as Moustakas reached second safely on the double.In the sixth, Mayfield missed a chance to give Moustakas a high-five after the infielder hit a two-run home run. Mayfield then went to the Brewers dugout and leaned over the railing to celebrate.“I run everything out until I see it go out so it’s hard for me to hit the first base coach on a high-five,” Moustakas said. “I wish I would’ve now. I left him hanging.”Said Mayfield, proudly: “All I know is Malibu Mike was 2 for 2 when I was coaching first base.”That was about as close as Mayfield got to a hit.“He’s a professional athlete,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He looks like a ballplayer and he’s played plenty of baseball. We played a game (on Friday) in batting practice, a points game, and he was in it until the final round. He acquitted himself very well defensively, offensively for sure. And in the clubhouse. He did a nice job.”The Brewers outfitted him perfectly with a No. 6 Brewers jersey. Someone updated it on Saturday with white tape saying “16 percent body fat.”“I didn’t put that there,” Yelich said.Mayfield and Yelich met at a gym in Westlake Village, California, when the quarterback was prepping for the NFL combine and 2018 draft. Mayfield did play third base at Oklahoma Chad Thomas Color Rush Jersey , but he’s better known for leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoff semifinals twice in three years.“He’s a great athlete and has a little bit of a baseball background,” Yelich said. “I’ve seen him swing before — I wasn’t too surprised that he did well.”Shaw, an Ohio native, likes Mayfield for what he’s done on the football field.“I’m a big Browns fan,” Shaw said. “I’ve suffered long enough.”Mayfield led the Browns to a 7-8-1 record last season after they went 0-16 the year before.The Rockies’ starting pitcher, incidentally, was Jon Gray, who also attended Oklahoma. Mayfield imagined how it might’ve been to face him in the batter’s box.“It would’ve been (fun) — OU on OU,” Mayfield said. “I’ve never met him. They have his picture all over campus.”Said Gray: “I love the player he is. He’s a favorite player of all the members of my family.”Shaw wanted to make sure they protected the NFL star.“I think he wanted to (get in a game), but he’s the quarterback,” Shaw said. “He’s just a cool dude. That’s my team so I’m a big fan.”Singer Garth Brooks and comedian Will Ferrell both have had token appearances in spring training games but they were doing so to help charities. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who played two seasons in the minors with Colorado, hit an exhibition game for the New York Yankees.“There’s a dangerous precedent if somebody brings their friend in and puts him in a game,” Counsell said. “I know he’s Baker Mayfield, but one of the players is basically bringing his friend in and he gets to play in the game. (Mayfield) is here to have fun.”Mayfield did just that.“I’ve always loved baseball, dreamed of playing it professionally and now I’m part of the Brewers,” Mayfield said. “I love it.”Did he think he might get an at-bat?“I don’t think the Browns would be very happy about that,” Mayfield said.As long as Shaw got Mayfield’s autograph on his Browns helmet, he’s good.“I’m going to get him to sign it before he leaves,” Shaw said.NOTES: Opening day starter Jhoulys Chacin struck out four over 5 1/3 innings. Counsell said Chacin’s final tuneup before the regular season will likely be in a minor league game. … Jimmy Nelson, who missed all of 2018 following shoulder surgery, made his second spring appearance on Saturday. The right-hander gave up one unearned run on two hits over three innings, striking out four.